NASA Engineer Talks About New Book Honoring Space Shuttle Columbia
*The event has already taken place on this date: Thu, 04/26/2018
Please help us keep this calendar up to date! If this activity is sold out, canceled, or otherwise needs alteration, email mindy@kidsoutandabout.com so we can update it immediately. If you have a question about the activity itself, please contact the organization administrator listed below.
Fairfield University Bookstore welcomes Fairfield native and NASA engineer Ann Micklos, on Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 7pm on the 2nd floor of the downtown location, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 255-7756. Micklos will discuss the new release of Bringing Columbia Home, the definitive inside story of the Columbia disaster and recovery and the inspiring message it ultimately holds. Micklos will provide details of her professional and personal relationship with Columbia and her crew, while describing how her story was woven in the book.
“Gripping and dramatic . . . It’s an important and fascinating chapter in space history, and it finally gets the full treatment it deserves. As told by someone who was involved in the effort from the beginning, it’s also a deeply personal and moving story.”—Booklist
On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated on reentry before the nation’s eyes, and all seven astronauts aboard were lost. Assisted by hundreds of volunteers, the search and recovery efforts would become the largest ground search operation in US history.
Bringing Columbia Home shares the deeply personal stories that emerged as NASA employees looked for lost colleagues and searchers overcame immense physical, logistical, and emotional challenges while working together to accomplish the impossible.
“A gripping account of a fatal tragedy and the impressive and deeply emotional human response that ensued.” —Kirkus Reviews, *starred review
Micklos has been an integral part of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program at the Kennedy Space Center. Her first assignment was to Space Shuttle Columbia, which than began her 20 mission Thermal Protection System Engineering career (aka: tile engineer). However, after the loss of Columbia and her crew, she was asked to lead the accident’s tile investigation effort. The Shuttle’s tiles were the prime system to give the clues to what caused the accident.
After the completion of Columbia’s investigation, Micklos transferred to the Orbiter Project Office as a Project Manager tasked with integrating all the Orbiter’s tile modifications for the Shuttle’s “Return to Flight". She managed the Boundary Layer Transition Flight Experiment, which provided data to better understand the physics of airflow changing from laminar to turbulent during the Orbiter’s entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Micklos also maintained an internal part of the TPS system through the Space Shuttle program's completion in 2011.
Ann Micklos now works for NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) that launches NASA’s scientific mission on commercial rockets such as Atlas V, Delta II and SpaceX’s Falcon 9. You can see photos that represent Micklos’ work career and worldly travels at www.blueplanetphotos.com.
Copies of Bringing Columbia Home will be available for purchase at the downtown Bookstore event. Visit us at www.fairfieldbookstore.com and www.facebook.com/FairfieldUBookstore.
*Times, dates, and prices of any activity posted to our calendars are subject to change. Please be sure to click through directly to the organization’s website to verify.